Page 55 of Destined for Him

“No. You have always been entirely appropriate, even when I’ve thrown myself at you countless times.”

I smile faintly as she continues.

I listen as she tells me how I’ve behaved impeccably until I ruined everything by going back on my word.

“You’ll meet someone,” I say, gripping my empty mug so hard I’m sure it’s going to crack. “Someone closer to your age.”

Shelby stares at me through watery eyes, and as she finishes her drink, she says, “but I wanted you. Only you. But I understand you don’t want me. Not like that, anyway.”

God, I feel like such a bastard.

“Shelby, I told you, you’re—”

“Beautiful. I heard you,” she says softly, rising to her feet. “But I was born too late.”

She nods at her cup with a thin smile.

“Thank you for the coffee. I’ll give the muffin to Ivy; she’s craving sugar like crazy.”

She turns to leave, and my body reacts before my brain, and I reach out to grip her arm.

Don’t leave.

“Shelby…”

“I know, Kevin. Ivy won’t ever know, okay? We’ll move on.”

Her eyes hold mine as she swallows, a brief minute in time where we speak without words.

She’s right.

It’s punishment.

“See you soon,” Shelby says before twisting away from me.

Then she’s gone, and I watch her walk away until she disappears around the corner, out of sight but never out of my mind.

What have I done?

I should be happy. She’s accepted it; she seems less angry.

Maybe this is how it needs to be, and she’s right; we’ll both move on.

So why do I feel like she’s taken my heart with her?

16

Shelby

Kevin went home yesterday. He didn’t ask to take me home with him; he just told me to tell him if Tommy did anything he shouldn’t, then he’d blow his head off.

I’m sure that means he cares, but it’s left me empty inside.

“Shelbs,” Ivy says from beside me, chewing on caramel popcorn. “Talk to me. Please.”

I plaster on the same smile I’ve worn all week and look at her.

Her stomach is beautifully swollen, and she balances all sorts of things on it when she’s eating. Like now, the bowl of popcorn balances over her belly button as she scoffs.

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